1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for making a bicycle frame having a light-reflective coating and to a light-reflective bicycle frame made therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light-reflective plate or an adhesive light-reflective paper is usually attached on a bicycle frame to result in light-reflective and signaling effects for enhanced driver safety. Since the light-reflective plate or the light-reflective paper is usually provided on certain areas of the bicycle frame, the generated reflected light might be affected by the angle of the incident light and by the point of view. Therefore, the light-reflective effect achieved by the light-reflective paper or the light-reflective plate is limited and unsatisfactory. Moreover, the adhesive light-reflective paper tends to shrink, to curl up and to be easily stripped from the surface of the bicycle frame due to weather and temperature factors. Aging of the light-reflective plate might reduce the light-reflective effect achieved thereby and may result in cracking of the same.
In view of the problems encountered by the conventional adhesive light-reflective papers and light-reflective plates, a process for forming a light-reflective coating on a bicycle frame has been proposed. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the process comprises:
Pre-treatment: The surface of the bicycle frame 10 is cleaned by subjecting the bicycle frame 10 to a cleaning process to remove grease and undesirable solids, which step is the so-called phosphate cleaning process, and to provide a cleaned surface 11 that subsequently undergoes a drying step. PA1 Gloss treatment: A glossy surface 12 is provided on the cleaned surface 11 by polishing the cleaned surface, or by providing a silver coating on the unpolished, cleaned surface, and the glossy surface 12 is subsequently dried. PA1 Spraying: The light-reflective paint is sprayed on the glossy surface 12 of the bicycle frame 10, and the sprayed paint layer is subsequently dried. PA1 Facing layer treatment: A facing layer 15 is provided on the light-reflective paint, and the facing layer 15 is subsequently dried. PA1 Post-treatment: A label 16 is attached to the protective layer 15, a finishing layer 17 is applied on the label 16, and the finishing layer 17 is subsequently dried.
Preparation of a light-reflective paint: A paint 14 is mixed with light-reflective particles 13 to form a sprayable light-reflective paint.
Accordingly, when light strikes the surface of the bicycle frame having the light-reflective coating prepared from the aforementioned process, the light can be reflected by the light-reflective particles 13.
The aforementioned process has the following drawbacks:
Referring to FIG. 2, since the light-reflective particles 13 are mixed with the paint 14 to form the light-reflective paint, the light-reflective layer can include areas in which the particles 13 are stacked or superimposed and areas in which the light-reflective particles 13 are sparse. When light strikes an area having superimposed particles 13, reflection is poor because light is dispersed due to the different reflection angles of adjacent particles 13. When light strikes an area with sparse light-reflective particles 13, reflection is ineffective. Therefore, the aforementioned process is not satisfactory.